NIL Money Sways Some Potential NBA Draft Picks To Stay In School

Forbes

4 hours ago

NBA or NIL? Yaxel Landeborg's decision to remain in college is a recent trend. (Photo by Michael ... More Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The 2025 NBA Draft does not look much different at the very top this year than in other years, where the projected stars reside. Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper sit there now.
The overall pool for the June 25-26 draft, however, is considered to be one of the weakest in recent years, with the decline most evident in the lower third of the first round, picks No. 21-30.
Blame/credit NIL.
The benefits available to top college athletes through their name, image and likeness earnings — plus another year of a college scholarship — appear to be major factors in motivating some potential lower level first-rounders to stay on campus.
Florida's Alex Condon (21) returned for a second shot at the Final Four (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Florida forward Alex Condon, Florida transfer guard Boogie Fland, Michigan transfer forward Yaxel Lendeborg, Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford and Houston forward Milos Uzan are among those who pulled their name from the list of early draft entrants just before the June 15 deadline.
Stay In College, Still Get Paid
'Now these kids can go to college and get paid,' an unnamed NBA agent told ESPN while discussing the 2025 draft, 'and most of these kids would prefer to go to college and play in March Madness and do these things, if all things are equal.'
Add the NIL money to the factors that a player who declares for the draft while retaining the college eligibility must consider.
The NBA can provide players generalized feedback on where they might fall in the draft. Late in the first round. Early second round. Etc. Before, those evaluations may not matter to a motivated player.
After leaving Arkansas, Boogie Fland abandoned the NBA draft and agreed to a $2.1 million NIL deal ... More with Florida. (Photo/Michael Woods)
Now, the NIL money adds another element.
Lendeborg is a prime example. After playing two seasons at Arizona Western junior college and two more at UAB, he entered the transfer portal in March and chose to attend Michigan while at the same time keeping his name in the draft pool.
Considered considered a potential late-first rounder or early second-rounder, Lendeborg pulled his name and has an NIL deal with the Wolverines worth $2.3 million, according on On3, which monitors NIL forces.
Fland, a transfer from Arkansas, has a $2.1 million NIL deal in place with defending national champion Florida, according to On3.
Condon had 12 points and secured the game-winning rebound in the Gators' 65-63 NCAA championship victory over Houston. His NIL deal with the collective Florida Victorious was not announced.
The Money Has Evened Things Out
'One of the huge benefits of the NIL world, you don't have to sacrifice for maybe as tough of a fiscal decision between going pro or staying now,' Florida coach Todd Golden said at the SEC spring meetings.
'Fortunately, he's positioned himself nicely that way.'
The money has evened things out.
NBA rookies sign four-year contracts that are determined on a sliding scale by when they were taken in the draft, and the figures are out for the 2025 draft class. Most contracts are guaranteed.
The stated value of the No. 1 pick — Flagg — is $62,730,226 for his first four seasons, according to Sportico, with a starting salary of $13.8 million in 2025-26. There also is some wiggle room as players can sign for as low as 80 percent of a high as 120 percent of their allotted figure.
By the late first round, however, the college and NBA money is relatively the same. The No. 25 pick in the 2025 draft is scheduled to earn $2.99 million in his rookie year. The No. 30 pick is to earn $2.74 million.
Moreover, contracts for players taken in the second round are not automatically guaranteed and are not governed by the rookie scale. Sacramento's Colby Jones signed the largest contact among second-rounders last season, at $8.8 million for four years.
Lendeborg and Fland are being paid in the same range to stay in college, which also has its benefits.
They and others like them will get another shot at an NCAA title, and they also have a chance to increase their standing in the next draft (or several) depending on their 2025-26 performance. Uzan played in the NCAA title game a year ago, Auburn was No. 1 most of the season and Michigan made the Sweet Sixteen.
For a player not in the lottery or close to it, a decision to stay can look like a win-win.